Margaret Scammell.pdf

Understanding political image: politics & the brand concept

Dr Margaret Scammell London School of Economics

Presentation at: Encuentro Internacional

Comunicacin Poltica

II ACOP

Bilbao, 14-16 Junio de 2012

The problem of political image (1)

The problem of political image (2)

Do bald men always lose?

Dont be silly

The problem of political image What is it?

Reputational factors (competence, credibility etc)? Indicators of likeability (in-touch, one-of-us etc)? Attributes of style, performance or appearance?

How do we evaluate it (and which aspects)? What really matters in political image and how do we research it in

relation to other factors (e.g. issues/policy, delivery of promises and party ID)?

How do we deal with the normative legacy? Image often associated with threat to democratic ideals (the irrational

elevated over reason, emotion over information, style over substance) Image as not real: artifice/illusion/virtual reality Political marketing often equated with image politics

The brand concept: can it reconcile image and political marketing, reason & emotion, style & substance, the hard and soft dimensions?

Brands: what are they? Much more than logos

Coca-cola: brand power In blind tests 2/3 prefer taste of Pepsi but 2/3 buy Coke Brand image partly owned by consumers (co-created)

Applying brand concepts to politics:

Brand identity: the goal to be

achieved the image that the marketer wants to create

Brand image: customer perceptions

of the brand

Images cannot be transferred to customers

Emerge out of exposure to brand messages, planned & unplanned, evaluation of experience (reliability, pleasure, value-for-money etc)

Thus brands are co-creations between producers and consumers

They are social constructed: emerge out of interactions between producers, consumers, institutions, media, NGOs, social networks etc

What makes a brand distinctive? James Donius model

Cultural

symbol of our society

Brand

Differentiators (increases in significance

as more competitors

meet boundary

conditions)

Social grew up with it

Psychological says something about me

Economic value for money Boundary Conditions (determines sustainability)

Functional works better

Political brands: brand differentiators adapted

The conceptual value

Not a model of how images develop in citizens minds (no strict separation of boundary/differentiators)

But enables analysis of image construction (preferred brand ID) and citizens images

Can show how & whether boundary/differentiators are linked

Provides a basis for normative assessment:

The continuing importance of information and reason

Invitation to engage (increasing importance of political psychology)

Emotional intelligence: reason/emotion work together

Cameron: detoxifying the Conservative brand

New logo Symbolic policies:

vote blue go green

Cameron symbolising the brand

Brand images contested

Two arrogant posh boys who dont know the price of milk Nadine Dorries (Conservative MP)

Conceptual value of brands: summing up

Accepts that modern politics is centrally concerned with competing images

Dynamic: accepts that brand images are contested (not simply transferred)

In tune with (a) political practice and (b) political psychology that argues that reason/emotion not mutually exclusive

Brings together hard and soft dimensions of policy and image (reputation, policy proposals, & the small details of style and performance)

Provides a basis for normative assessment: (when) should we be concerned if brand ID is all differentiation and no boundary/wide gulf between differentiator claims and boundary claims?